Dear SAS Members

Our Club is getting ready for another year full of exciting activities. We have some new members on the board and the mix of fresh ideas and tried-and-true know-how promises a full array of events with something for everyone. Besides the “staples” like the National Holiday celebration (this year with a twist, see below), Christmas Party and Fondue Night, we will offer smaller outings which will appeal to various age- and interest-groups. As always, please fill free to bring up any ideas and suggestions you might have regarding our program.

With this mailing you get the invitation to the first outing, a Hike in Kennesaw Mountain Park on Sunday May 21. We have not had a chance to pre-hike it yet, but as soon as we do know more details to the trail you will get an update by email so you will know what to expect. (If you are familiar with the park please contact me!)

One thing we do know is that we will need your Membership Renewal!
The membership fee for 2006 is just as it was - $ 30 per individual or $ 60 per family (one address!). Please send your renewal form together with your payment to our treasurer Markus Engel by April 30. Sorry, this call comes kind of short notice, but then again it should not come as a big surprise…

The Ladies’ Luncheon Program is ongoing. Again, if you have an idea for a fun event, be it a visit to a museum or exhibition, a unique shopping experience or something else you would like to do with a group of friends, bring it up and we will make it happen. If you are interested in joining this group, please sign up on your membership renewal form, or contact any of the Board Members.

  is a project aimed at Americans with Swiss roots with the goal to bring people from the two countries closer together. The campaign was launched in March 2006 and revolves around the website www.swissroots.org – check it out!
Numerous events will be held in the US in connection with swiss roots, mainly in areas with large Swiss colonies. The Swiss Consulate in Atlanta has approached our board and suggested to put our National Day Celebration under the swiss roots motto. Saturday, August 5, has been set as the date of the event, and members of the board together with representatives of the Consulate are working on the details. More information will follow.
                                              
New Members
Please welcome Patricia and Thierry Pagnier with their two sons Alexander and Nicolas as well as Susanne and Fadi Safar with little Emile to our Club – we are looking forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events!

Minutes of the General Assembly
The Club held its General Assembly on March 25. 28 members were present. There was no extra business and no controversial issue. A special THANK YOU goes to Daniel Gruenenfleder for his presentation of the SWISSROOTS program. If you would like to get a copy of the minutes, please contact Helen or Berti.

Guidelines for Promotion of Services and Products
On several occasions the board has been approached by members to promote their services and/or products to SAS members. While we will refrain from soliciting we still think it could be beneficial to you to know what other members have to offer. So in order to handle requests in a consistent manner we have set up some guidelines (you can request a copy by email). Our web site www.sasatlanta.org will serve as an advertisement platform. In addition to “offered by members” it will also feature a rubric “recommended by members” where you can share your discoveries of great stores, helpful organizations, friendly businesses and whatever you think might be of interest to others. You can get an entry form from Astrid, our webmaster, or from any board Member, and submit your input “100 % print ready” in either Microsoft Word or PowerPoint – we hope to create an active exchange!

www.sastlanta.org
Our website is undergoing a major overhaul, and we are fortunate that in Astrid Wilkens we have found a Board Member willing and capable of taking on this job. It will not be done over night, so please be patient. Slowly but steadily we are getting closer to an attractive and useful tool for current and prospective members.

Electronic newsletter available from Swiss Embassy
There is all kind of information out on the Internet, and you can easily be overwhelmed by it. However, if you are interested in what’s going on in Switzerland you can subscribe to a free bimonthly newsletter on www.swissemb.org, by clicking on “Free E-Newsletter”.

SAS Board Members 2006/07

Feel free to contact any of us in case you have a question or suggestion. Also, if you would like to come to one of our Board Meetings, please call Helen for details.

For the SAS Board